Love Bug (The Prescotts Book 3) by Tara Wyatt (electric book reader .TXT) 📗

were exactly what she’d needed today, and it felt good to cap off what had been a successful day with some cathartic dancing and partying.

“You should go talk to that guy,” she said to Dori, tipping her chin toward the man lingering by the bar who’d been checking Dori out for the past couple of songs.

Dori’s head whipped around. “Who? Him?”

“The guy with the black hair in the blue shirt. He’s cute. And he’s been watching you dance.”

Dori glanced over her shoulder again and then turned back. “Seriously? He is cute.”

Willa nodded encouragingly, shooting her friend a smile. “Go. I have to find the restroom. I’ll meet you back at our table in a bit?”

Dori hesitated and then nodded. “Oh-okay. Yeah. I’ll go talk to him.”

Willa laid her hands on Dori’s shoulders. “Listen to me. You are pretty and smart and funny as hell. Just be yourself. You’re amazing, Dor. You’ve got this.” She gave her shoulders a squeeze and then let her go with a gentle push in the direction of the bar.

When Willa was finished in the ladies’ room, she reemerged into the main area of the club, glancing in the direction of where the guy at the bar had been standing. She grinned when she saw Dori over there, getting her flirt on. Smiling, she headed back up the stairs to their table, hoping that Brandon and Elliott were getting on okay. She’d managed to drag Elliott out onto the dance floor a couple of times, but only ever for a single song before he retreated to their table, nursing his craft beer.

As she reached the top of the stairs, she was surprised to find their table empty, adorned with the “reserved” sign Brandon had stolen from who knows where. Glancing around, she didn’t see either of them anywhere and she wondered if they’d both left. Shit, maybe she shouldn’t have left them alone together after finding out about their history. She knew how prickly Elliott could be sometimes and…Her eyes landed on two men in the corner, their arms around each other, kissing slowly.

Or, maybe she’d done them a favor leaving them alone together because Elliott and Brandon were making out. She glanced away, happy for them but not wanting to watch her brother make out with her friend.

She sat back down at their table alone, her gaze on the dance floor below. A pang of loneliness, sharp and intense cut through her, dampening her bright mood. Feeling the need to connect with someone, she pulled her phone out of her clutch and texted Kayla and Lauren.

Willa: I miss you guys.

She waited for a few minutes, but her phone remained silent. Lauren was probably curled up with Theo, watching a movie and eating popcorn. She could picture them now, Lauren’s head on his chest, Theo’s arm around her, his fingers playing in her red hair. And Kayla was probably in bed with Sebastian. Based on everything she’d shared, Willa was aware that the two of them had an insanely active sex life.

She sighed and set her phone down on the table. She missed her friends, and while she didn’t begrudge them their happiness, she was a little jealous that they both had a Prescott to curl up with and she was stuck pining after a Prescott who’d made it abundantly clear that he didn’t want her.

She felt…left behind. Left out. And alone. In that moment, she felt really, really alone.

She slumped back in her seat and let her eyes wander around the club, taking in the happy people all around her. Normally, she would’ve counted herself among them. She was a happy person. Hell, she’d smiled her way through the torturous chemo treatments she’d had to endure six years ago. But lately, the smiling had been getting harder and harder. For the past…oh, six weeks or so.

Since the home invasion. Since the incredible night with Max and then the fallout the next morning. Fallout she was still dealing with.

She closed her eyes for a second and pulled herself together. She didn’t want to sit here feeling sad or sorry for herself. That wasn’t who she was, and even though she’d been rocked, she’d find her footing again. She always did.

Fresh resolve steeling through her, she picked up her phone and opened the Blind Date app, trying to figure out what she should say to SilverFox44. But before she could come up with anything interesting, her phone buzzed, a notification from the app popping up.

You have a new match!

Her interest piqued, she refreshed the screen she was on, and sure enough, there it was. A new match, outranking all of the others.

BetaTestAccount23 – 98% compatibility

Her eyes widened. Ninety-eight percent? How was that even possible? Surely there’d been a glitch in the algorithm to get that kind of percentage. Biting her lip, she clicked on her match’s username, her eyes scanning across the screen. Male, 36, straight, in Manhattan. No additional details filled out. He hadn’t even come up with an original username. Pretty boring.

She almost closed out of the app entirely, but her eyes kept bouncing back to that 98%, which had to be a mistake. When the beta test was over, she’d have to pull the reports and find out what had glitched. And yet…

Licking her lips, she decided to message him just to see if he’d respond.

FreshPrincessOfChelsea: Wow, 98%. That’s impressive.

Her heart gave a little jolt when he started messaging back right away, three little bouncing dots appearing below her message.

BetaTestAccount23: Right? No pressure.

FreshPrincessOfChelsea: Now I’m dying to know how you answered some of those questions. I mean, we’re practically soulmates. At least, according to science.

She cringed as soon as she sent the message, wishing she could undo it. Soulmates? So cheesy.

BetaTestAccount23: Maybe we scored 98% because I had the exact same thought about wanting to know how you answered. Science doesn’t lie.

FreshPrincessOfChelsea: Well…pick one of the questions. What do you want to know?

BetaTestAccount23: Is talking about the test against the rules?

FreshPrincessOfChelsea: I don’t think